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October 3 - October 24, 2018
James Black's avatar

James Black

SU Student Life River Hawk Recyclers

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 743 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    energy audit
    conducted
  • UP TO
    132
    meatless or vegan meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    1,200
    minutes
    of additional sleep
  • UP TO
    990
    minutes
    spent exercising
  • UP TO
    140
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    92
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    44
    more servings
    of fruits and vegetables
  • UP TO
    1.0
    waste audit
    conducted

James's actions

Water

Install a Toilet Tank Bank

I will reduce the amount of water flushed and save up to 11 gallons (41 L) of water each day by installing a toilet tank bank.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Track my Purchases

I will spend 5 minutes each day maintaining a record of all my purchases and learning about my spending habits.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Learn More about Food Deserts

I will spend 15 minutes learning about food deserts and find out how I can advocate for healthy and fresh food in my region.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Online Energy Audit

I will complete an online energy audit of my home, office, or dorm room and identify my next steps for saving energy.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Find Local Recycling Depots

I will spend at least 30 minutes finding out where to recycle the recyclable items that I can't put in my curbside bin.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Choose Clean/Renewable Energy

I will sign up for my utility company's clean/renewable energy option.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Health

Learn About Local Environmental Justice Concerns

I will spend 15 minutes researching environmental justice concerns in my region, their causes, and local initiatives to address these concerns.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Personal Waste Audit

I will collect all of my unrecyclable, non-compostable trash to raise my awareness of how much I send to the landfill.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Go Paperless

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by opting into paperless billing and ending unwanted subscriptions.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Switch to Cold Water

I will switch to washing my clothes in cold water, saving up to 1,600 lbs of C02 over the course of the next year.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Reduce Animal Products

I will enjoy 6 meatless meal(s) and/or 0 vegan meal(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Exercise Daily

Exercise is a great stress blaster! I will exercise for 45 minute(s) each day.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

Healthy Sleep

Effectively working for sustainability requires self care! I will commit to getting 60 more minute(s) of sleep each night to achieve at least 7 hours per night.

COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Health

More Fruits and Veggies

I will eat a heart healthy diet by adding 2 cup(s) of fruits and vegetables each day to achieve at least 4 cups per day.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?


  • James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/20/2018 6:48 PM
    I had not considered the value of sleep until this challenge. Rest is important. I get it. I will make sure to take time to rest moving forward. 

  • James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/18/2018 7:21 PM
    Again last night, I met my sleep goal, but today I was yawning because of the cool air of this crisp autumn day. That's not a bad thing. And I certainly was not alone. 

  • James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/17/2018 5:56 PM
    On day 15, I have completed all daily challenges 13 times. The two times I missed the mark were because I didn't sleep for at least 7 hours. This is actually quite a major accomplishment for me. I've chronically stayed up too late, perhaps afraid of missing out on something, and it wasn't a problem until the past few years. I'm getting older and need more rest. I appreciate that this experience has helped me make progress. 

  • James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/15/2018 7:43 PM
    I'm careful to put recyclables in the appropriate bins at home and at work. And I'm sad when I see that someone could have walked a few more feet to a well established recycling bin rather than leaving a one-use Starbucks cup in a trash can. Do people really not understand that we are in the last moments of reversing the damage that the Baby Boomers and the "Better-Living-Through-Chemistry" generation have left us with? If not, hey, guess what, we really need to reverse this mess!!!

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy Online Energy Audit
    What most interested or surprised you about your own energy footprint?

    James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/15/2018 7:38 PM
    The audit was focused on electric energy (it was provided by our electric provider). The audit compared my family's usage to our neighbors but did not acknowledge how they use other sources of energy (e.g., natural gas) whereas my family does not. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health More Fruits and Veggies
    What do you think contributes to people in North America eating more meat than any other places, and what does this say about North American values and ways of living? How can we start shifting from a meat-focused food culture to a more plant-based one?

    James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/14/2018 6:16 PM
    I've read this prompt many times since signing up for the EcoChallenge. I've identified as vegetarian for most of the past 30 years (except for 1997-2000, when I was in my master's program at the University of Missouri, and then and there, maintaining a vegetarian diet was expensive). I grew up in Kansas City, and my mother, chief dietary officer in my childhood home, cooked a lot of meat, and, ironically, the only vegetables I would eat as a kid were potatoes and corn. Looking back, my home city's and so much of the United States' economies were based on the exploitation of animals because, after the founding immigrants of this country displaced the continent's indigenous peoples, land was cheap and plentiful. It wasn't until I left home as a very young adult that I realized I didn't have to participate in "meat-focused food culture," which seems like a very generous euphemism for the gratuitous slaughter of animals. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Health Exercise Daily
    How can you incorporate other personal values (like quality time with friends or spending time in nature) into your exercise routine?

    James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/13/2018 6:31 PM
    I'm curious about this prompt's biases, as if exercise should involve friends and nature. I've tried communal exercise, and my personal best is 5 months. I've been exercising in an intentional, regular way for 30 years, which is about 3/5 of my life. I do/need it daily to take care of my mental health, so I avoid other people's drama during that time. During cardio, I read and write because that's when I'm attentive and inspired. Weather-permitting, I'm happy to to walk/run outside in my neighborhood, but, honestly, I don't go too far into nature because I don't want to deal with snakes and other creepy-crawlies or contract Lyme disease. In sum, if you're looking for a workout partner, I'm probably not a great candidate unless you and I have the right energy. It's very different than how I roll in most other aspects of my life. 

  • James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/12/2018 11:31 AM
    Hey, River Hawk Recyclers! I filtered the Teams list to see who else in Pennsylvania is doing the EcoChallenge. Our team is ranked highest (at 111) and is the largest in PA!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste Go Paperless
    Reducing your paper mail can be such a freeing action to take -- by reducing what is coming in, you can reduce what is going into the recycling bin too. How does it make you feel? What is the next step you will take to reduce your waste?

    James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/12/2018 11:19 AM
    Removing my address from a few of the major marketing lists was easy and took about 10 minutes. 
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Energy Switch to Cold Water
    What do you plan to do with the money you save from making more energy efficient choices?

    James Black's avatar
    James Black 10/03/2018 2:46 PM
    Although I hope to save some money by making more energy efficient choices, I'm more motivated by reducing my impact on the planet. I wonder why striving for economic gain has *not* involved considering impact on the environment until this historical moment. Why do so many believe that a strong economy and a healthy environment are mutually exclusive?